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Part 2Amendments of the 1996 Act

Multiplex services and digital programme services

74(1)Section 1 of the 1996 Act (interpretation) shall be amended as follows.

(2)For subsection (1) there shall be substituted—

“(1)In this Part “multiplex service” means (except where the context otherwise requires) a television multiplex service.”

(3)In subsection (4), for “for general reception” there shall be substituted “so as to be available for reception by members of the public”.

(4)For subsection (4A) there shall be substituted—

“(4A)In subsection (4), “available for reception by members of the public” means available for reception by members of the public (within the meaning of Part 3 of the Communications Act 2003) in the United Kingdom or another EEA State, or in an area of the United Kingdom or of such a State.”

(5)For subsection (7) of that section there shall be substituted—

“(7)In this section “broadcast” means broadcast otherwise than from a satellite.”

Meaning of qualifying service

75In section 2 of the 1996 Act (meaning of “qualifying service” etc.), for subsections (2) to (6) there shall be substituted—

“(2)In this Part “qualifying service” means any of the following, so far as they are provided with a view to their being broadcast in digital form—

(a)a television broadcasting service included in Channel 3;

(b)Channel 4;

(c)Channel 5;

(d)S4C Digital;

(e)a television programme service provided by the Welsh Authority with the approval of the Secretary of State under section 205 of the Communications Act 2003;

(f)the digital public teletext service.”

Licences under Part 1

76(1)Section 3 of the 1996 Act (licences under Part 1 of that Act) shall be amended as follows.

(2)In subsection (1), for “the Independent Television Commission (in this Part referred to as the “the Commission”)” there shall be substituted “OFCOM”.

“(da)impose conditions in a licence requiring the licence holder, if a body corporate, to give OFCOM notice, after they have occurred and irrespective of whether proposals for them have fallen to be notified, of changes, transactions or events affecting—

(i)shareholdings in the body; or

(ii)the directors of the body;

(db)impose conditions in a licence enabling OFCOM to require the licence holder to provide them with such information as they may reasonably require for determining—

(i)whether the licence holder is a disqualified person in relation to that licence by virtue of Part 2 of Schedule 2 to the 1990 Act; or

(ii)whether any such requirements as are mentioned in subsection (1)(b) have been and are being complied with by or in relation to the licence holder;”.

(4)In subsection (6)—

(a)in paragraph (a), for “complained of” there shall be substituted “constituting their grounds for revoking the licence”.

(b)in paragraph (b)(i), for “Parts III and IV of Schedule 2 to the 1990 Act” there shall be substituted “the requirements imposed by or under Schedule 14 to the Communications Act 2003”.

(5)In subsection (7)—

(a)paragraph (a) shall cease to have effect; and

(b)in paragraph (b), for “Part IV of that Schedule” there shall be substituted “Part 1 of Schedule 14 to the Communications Act 2003”.

(6)In subsection (8), for the words from “a failure” to the end of paragraph (c) there shall be substituted “a disqualification under Part 2 of Schedule 2 to the 1990 Act or a contravention of a requirement imposed by or under Schedule 14 to the Communications Act 2003,”.

Multiplex licences

79(1)Section 7 of the 1996 Act (multiplex licences) shall be amended as follows.

“(ca)the applicant’s proposals as to the number (if any) of digital sound programmes services which are to be broadcast, as to the characteristics of each of those services and as to the areas in which they would be provided;”

Additional payments in respect of multiplex licences

Multiplex revenue

86(1)Section 14 of the 1996 Act (multiplex revenue) shall be amended as follows.

(2)In subsection (1)—

(a)for “section 13(1)” there shall be substituted “this Part”;

(b)for “the holder of a multiplex licence” there shall be substituted “the person who is the multiplex provider in relation to any television multiplex service or any general multiplex service”;

(c)in paragraph (a), for “the multiplex service to which the licence relates” there shall be substituted “the relevant multiplex”;

(d)in paragraph (b) for “of any qualifying service by means of the multiplex service” there shall be substituted “by means of the multiplex service of any service which is a qualifying service or which (without being a qualifying service) is provided by the BBC”;

(e)in paragraphs (c) and (d), for “the holder of the multiplex licence” and “the multiplex service”, in each place where they occur there shall be substituted, respectively, “the multiplex provider” and “the relevant multiplex”.

(3)In subsections (2) to (8)—

(a)for the words “the holder of the multiplex licence” and “the licence holder”, wherever occurring, there shall be substituted, in each case, “the multiplex provider”; and

(a)for “a multiplex licence”, in each place, there shall be substituted “a television multiplex service or a general multiplex service”;

(b)for “the multiplex service to which the licence relates”, in each place, there shall be substituted “that multiplex service”;

(c)after the definition of “additional services provider” there shall be inserted—

““multiplex provider”—

(a)in relation to a television multiplex service for which a person holds a licence under this Part, means the licence holder; and

(b)in relation to a television multiplex service which is not licensed under this Part or a general multiplex service, means the person who provides that service;”

(d)after the definition of “programme provider” there shall be inserted—

““the relevant multiplex”—

(a)in relation to a multiplex provider falling within paragraph (a) of the definition of that expression, means the television multiplex service to which his licence relates; and

(b)in relation to any other multiplex provider, means the television multiplex service or general multiplex service which is provided by him;

and this section and section 15 shall have effect as if references in this section to digital programme services included references to digital sound programme services and references to digital additional services included references to digital additional services within the meaning of Part 2.”

Attribution of multiplex revenue to multiplex providers

87(1)Section 15 of the 1996 Act (attribution of multiplex revenue to licence holder) shall be amended as follows.

(2)In subsection (1)—

(a)for “the holder of a multiplex licence” there shall be substituted “the person who is the multiplex provider in relation to any television multiplex service”;

(b)for “of multiplex services in that period,” there shall be substituted “in that period of television multiplex services,”;

(3)In subsection (4), for the words from “multiplex service” onwards there shall be substituted “television multiplex service or general multiplex service, means the last accounting period of the multiplex provider”.

(4)In subsection (5), for “multiplex service, the first accounting period of the holder of the multiplex licence” there shall be substituted “television multiplex service or general multiplex service, the first accounting period of the multiplex provider”.

(5)After that subsection there shall be inserted—

“(5A)In subsections (4) and (5) “multiplex provider” has the same meaning as in section 14.”

(6)In subsection (8) for “apology” there shall be substituted “statement of findings”.

Digital additional services

(2)In subsection (1), for paragraphs (a) and (b) there shall be substituted—

“(a)is provided by a person with a view to its being broadcast in digital form (whether by him or some other person) so as to be available for reception by members of the public;

(b)is so provided with a view either—

(i)to the broadcasting being by means of a television multiplex service or by means of a general multiplex service; or

(ii)to the members of the public in question being or including members of the public in an EEA State other than the United Kingdom, or in an area of such a State;

and

(c)is not a Channel 3 service, Channel 4, Channel 5, a public television service of the Welsh Authority, the digital public teletext service, a digital programme service, a digital sound programme service, an ancillary service or a technical service.”

(3)In subsection (2) (meaning of ancillary service)—

(a)for “an independent analogue broadcaster” there shall be substituted “a relevant public service broadcaster”; and

(b)for paragraphs (a) and (b) there shall be substituted—

“(a)assistance for disabled people in relation to some or all of the programmes included in a digital programme service or qualifying service provided by him;

(b)a service (apart from advertising) that relates to the promotion or listing of programmes included in such a service or in a digital sound programme service so provided; or

(c)any other service (apart from advertising) that is ancillary to one or more programmes so included, and relates directly to their contents.”

(3)In subsection (4), for the words from “multiplex service” onwards there shall be substituted “television multiplex service or general multiplex service, means the last accounting period of the multiplex provider”.

(4)In subsection (5), for “multiplex service, the first accounting period of the holder of the multiplex licence” there shall be substituted “television multiplex service or general multiplex service, the first accounting period of the multiplex provider”.

(5)After that subsection there shall be inserted—

“(5A)In subsections (4) and (5) “multiplex provider” has the same meaning as in section 14.”

Digital broadcasting of Gaelic programmes

97(1)Section 32 of the 1996 Act (digital broadcasting of Gaelic programmes) shall be amended as follows.

(2)In subsection (1), for “the Commission to include in any multiplex licence granted in respect of one frequency to which section 28 applies” there shall be substituted “OFCOM to include in no more than one relevant multiplex licence”.

Review of digital television broadcasting

(3)In subsection (1)(a)(ii), for the words “services specified in section 2(3), S4C Digital, the qualifying teletext service” there shall be substituted “following services, namely, Channel 3 services, Channel 4, Channel 5, the public television services of the Welsh Authority (within the meaning of Part 2 of Schedule 12 to the Communications Act 2003), the digital public teletext service”.

Enforcement of licences held by BBC companies

99In section 35 of the 1996 Act (enforcement of licences held by BBC companies), for “the Commission”, wherever occurring, there shall be substituted “OFCOM”.

Interpretation of Part 1

100In section 39(1) (interpretation of Part 1)—

(a)after the definition of “digital programme service” there shall be inserted—

““digital public teletext service” has the same meaning as in Part 3 of the Communications Act 2003;

“digital sound programme service” has the same meaning as in Part 2 of this Act;

“general multiplex service” has the same meaning as in that Part;”.

(b)for the definition of “public teletext provider” there shall be substituted—

““public teletext provider” means the person for the time being licensed under Part 1 of the 1990 Act to provide the public teletext service (within the meaning of Part 3 of the Communications Act 2003);”

(c)for the definitions of “S4C” and “on S4C” and of “S4C Digital” and “on S4C Digital” there shall be substituted—

““S4C” and “S4C Digital” each has the same meaning as in Part 3 of the Communications Act 2003;”.

(d)after the definition of “technical service” there shall be inserted—

““television multiplex service” has the meaning given by section 241 of the Communications Act 2003.”

“(da)impose conditions in a licence requiring the licence holder, if a body corporate, to give OFCOM notice, after they have occurred and irrespective of whether proposals for them have fallen to be notified, of changes, transactions or events affecting—

(i)shareholdings in the body; or

(ii)the directors of the body;

(db)impose conditions in a licence enabling OFCOM to require the licence holder to provide them with such information as they may reasonably require for determining—

(i)whether the licence holder is a disqualified person in relation to that licence by virtue of Part 2 of Schedule 2 to the 1990 Act; or

(ii)whether any such requirements as are mentioned in subsection (1)(b) have been and are being complied with by or in relation to the licence holder;”.

(4)In subsection (6)—

(a)in paragraph (a), for “complained of” there shall be substituted “constituting their grounds for revoking the licence”; and

(b)in paragraph (b)(i), for “Parts III and IV of Schedule 2 to the 1990 Act” there shall be substituted “the requirements imposed by or under Schedule 14 to the Communications Act 2003”.

(5)In subsection (7)—

(a)paragraph (a) shall cease to have effect; and

(b)in paragraph (b), for “Part IV of that Schedule” there shall be substituted “Part 1 of Schedule 14 to the Communications Act 2003”.

(6)In subsection (8), for the words from “a failure” to the end of paragraph (c) there shall be substituted “a disqualification under Part 2 of Schedule 2 to the 1990 Act or a contravention of a requirement imposed by or under Schedule 14 to the Communications Act 2003,”.

National radio multiplex licences

105(1)Section 46 of the 1996 Act (national radio multiplex licences) shall be amended as follows.

Award of national radio multiplex licences

106In section 47 of the 1996 Act (award of national radio multiplex licences), for “the Authority”, wherever occurring, there shall be substituted “OFCOM”.

Reservation of capacity for independent national broadcasters

107(1)Section 48 of the 1996 Act (reservation of digital capacity for independent broadcasters) shall be amended as follows.

(2)For subsections (1) to (3) there shall be substituted—

“(1A)OFCOM must ensure that the conditions included in national radio multiplex licences (taken together) secure that an amount of digital capacity on the multiplex frequencies is reserved for every independent national broadcaster for the broadcasting of a simulcast radio service provided by that broadcaster.

(1B)Where the conditions of a licence for a national radio multiplex service reserve capacity on the frequency made available for that service for the broadcasting of a simulcast radio service provided by an independent national broadcaster, those conditions must also include the condition specified in subsection (1C).

(1C)That condition is the condition that OFCOM consider appropriate for securing that, in consideration of the making by the independent national broadcaster of the payments which —

(a)are agreed from time to time between him and the licence holder, or

(b)in default of agreement, are determined under this section,

the licence holder uses, for the broadcasting of a simulcast radio service provided by that broadcaster, such of the reserved digital capacity as may be requested, from time to time, by that broadcaster.

(1D)Where conditions are included under this section in a national radio multiplex licence reserving capacity for an independent national broadcaster, OFCOM may include conditions relating to the broadcasting of the simulcast radio service in the licence for the national service provided by that broadcaster.”

(3)In subsection (4) (determination of capacity to be reserved), for the words from “If the BBC” to “the Secretary of State, who may” there shall be substituted “If the BBC do not give their consent to the proposals within such period as OFCOM may specify in their notice under subsection (3), OFCOM shall”.

(4)In subsection (5), for words from “the Secretary of State” onwards there shall be substituted “OFCOM shall give the BBC an opportunity of making representations to them about their proposals.”

(5)In subsection (6), after “and the BBC” there shall be inserted “or (in default of agreement) determined under this section”.

(6)After that subsection there shall be inserted—

“(7)Where the holder of the licence and the BBC fail to agree—

(a)the payments to be made under a condition included in the licence in accordance with subsection (6), or

(b)the other terms that are to apply in relation to the use of digital capacity in accordance with such a condition,

either of them may refer the matter to OFCOM for determination.

(8)Before making a determination under subsection (7), OFCOM must give the licence holder and the BBC an opportunity of making representations to them about the matter.

(9)In making any determination under subsection (7), OFCOM shall have regard to—

(a)the expenses incurred, or likely to be incurred, by the licence holder in providing the local radio multiplex service in question, and

(b)the terms on which persons providing local radio multiplex services contract with persons providing local digital additional services for the broadcasting of those services.”

Local radio multiplex licences

109(1)Section 50 of the 1996 Act (local radio multiplex licences) shall be amended as follows.

(d)in paragraphs (c) and (d), for “the holder of the radio multiplex licence” there shall be substituted “the multiplex provider”.

(3)In subsections (2) to (8)—

(a)for “the holder of the radio multiplex licence”, “the licence holder” and “the holder of the multiplex licence”, wherever occurring, there shall be substituted, in each case, “the multiplex provider”; and

“(6A)Section 89 of the 1990 Act (disqualification from being licence holder or concerned with the provision of a programme service if convicted of a transmitting offence) shall apply in relation to a licence under this section as it applies to a licence under Part 3 of that Act, but with the omission of paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of that section and of the word “or” immediately before that paragraph.”

(4)Sub-paragraph (3) does not impose a disqualification in respect of any offence committed before the commencement of that sub-paragraph.

Conditions of digital sound programme licences

120(1)Section 61 of the 1996 Act (conditions of licences for digital sound programme services) shall be amended as follows.

(b)in paragraphs (a) and (c), for “the holder of a radio multiplex licence”, there shall be substituted, in each case, “the provider of a radio multiplex service, of a television multiplex service or of a general multiplex service”;

(c)in paragraph (a) for “by means of a radio multiplex service” there shall be substituted “by means of the multiplex service”; and

(4)In subsection (6), for “transmission for general reception of television programmes by satellite” there shall be substituted “broadcasting of television programmes from a satellite so as to be available for reception by members of the public (within the meaning of Part 3 of the Communications Act 2003)”.

133In section 107(5)(b) of the 1996 Act (code relating to avoidance of unjust or unfair treatment etc.), for “the service referred to in section 57(1A)(a) of the 1990 Act” there shall be substituted “any public service of the Welsh Authority (within the meaning of Part 2 of Schedule 12 to the Communications Act 2003)”.

135In section 117 of the 1996 Act (duty of broadcasting body to retain recordings of programmes), for “sections 115 and 116” there shall be substituted “section 115”.

136(1)For subsections (1) and (2) of section 119 of the 1996 Act there shall be substituted—

“(1)Where OFCOM have considered and adjudicated upon a fairness complaint, they may direct the relevant person to publish the matters mentioned in subsection (3) in such manner, and within such period, as may be specified in the directions.”

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